Rally in support of jailed anti-gay clerk

  • 06/09/2015
David Jordan, a member of Chirst Fellowship in North Carolina, preaches in support of the prayer rally at the Carter County Detention Center for Rowan County clerk Kim Davis (Reuters)
David Jordan, a member of Chirst Fellowship in North Carolina, preaches in support of the prayer rally at the Carter County Detention Center for Rowan County clerk Kim Davis (Reuters)

Hundreds have rallied as a show of support for the US clerk who was sent to jail this week for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licences in the US state of Kentucky.

Kim Davis was jailed on Thursday (local time) for contempt of court for refusing to issue the licences due to her opposition to gay marriage, which the US Supreme Court legalised across the United States in June.

A born-again Christian, Davis says God's authority trumps the laws her job requires her to follow.

The mayor of Grayson, Kentucky, where she is being held, agrees.

"You play a role in this moment of history and may God bless you and God bless Kim Davis," Mayor George Steele told the crowd at the rally, according to local broadcaster WKYT.

Many of the supporters made the 128km trek from neighbouring Rowan County, where Davis is employed, the channel said.

The pink-and-beige detention centre at the end of dead-end street in 4000-person Grayson has become an epicentre for the culture war over gay marriage, seemingly resolved by the Supreme Court's decision.

While Judge David Bunning has said Davis can be released as soon as she agrees to issue marriage licences to anyone who qualifies, as her position requires, or resigns from that position, she can be held indefinitely if she refuses to do so.

Her lawyer said Friday she has no intention to resign or to "violate her conscience and betray her God".

AFP